Once in a Blue Moon
by kerryblaze
Summary: Every once in a blue moon, a barrier is broken down. Warning: SLASH SSRL.


_**Once in a Blue Moon**_

_Crack_! A flash of brilliant white light lit up the room, revealing its occupant. Severus Snape was sitting in a high back chair. Unblinking, back stiff as a board, he stared out of the window, seemingly unaffected by the thrashing storm surrounding the house. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, he could have easily been mistaken for a statue.

He knew that it was out there even if he couldn't see it. Dark swirling clouds cloaked the monster, protecting it from his contemptuous stare. He stared exactly where it should have been visible at midnight on June 30th, the year nineteen hundred and ninety-nine. Loathing seeped from his pores. For three years now, he had hated this thing; this celestial being that hung in the sky with no real purpose but to cause him more grief. But this particular one, the one hiding from his hateful glare, was special. A blue moon, they had named it. He didn't call it that. He had called it numerous other words, all of them he normally would have considered a man of his intelligence beneath uttering.

Another rumbling of thunder shook the walls around him. And for a moment, he was relieved of the agonizing sounds of whimpering and claws scratching the wood on the floor above him.

His lover, now consumed by the beast that tainted his soul, paced the room that was his prison one night a month – except for this month. Severus cursed and damned the month to an eternal hell.

Each occurrence of Remus' transformation was more difficult for him. It got harder, not easier as he had thought it would. He loved the man, but hated the beast. Detested it because after each transformation, Remus looked slightly older, more tired, and a bit lonelier.

Remus knew who he was and he knew who his lover was even when his body became the beast. Severus had seen to it that the wolf would not infect his lover's mind. Once done out of fear, but now done out of love. Each month, Severus would hand Remus the potion and then say good-bye with a kiss. Remus transformed in a spare room farthest away from the bedroom they shared, silently agreeing not to taint their room with his curse.

The door didn't need to be locked. Severus was quite confident of his potion making skills. Yet it _was_ locked. A key nestled in the breast pocket of his robes was a constant reminder of that fact. It was only a small key and had it been a key to any other room it would sit in his pocket unnoticed and forgotten. This key was never forgotten. One night a month, Severus spent the entire night sitting in this chair, sleepless, the impression of the key touching his chest and reminding him of his weakness. Two nights this month.

The beast could get out if he wanted. No wood door would hold him. Neither of them was foolish enough to think otherwise. The lock was a symbol. A barrier they put up between them. The only barrier they had not yet broken down. Severus thought that he could never forgive. Remus thought that he could never forget. They accepted the barrier between them, forgetting that it was there all the other days of the month. Twice this month they were reminded.

The werewolf howled and the statue like stance broke. Severus flinched. The Wolfsbane Potion didn't squash the instincts of the wolf. Fear of the storm was rattling the nerves of the canine. With its keen senses on overload, the pacing and whimpering became more feverish as the storm drew closer.

Twice in one month was just too much to take. Severus stood up from his chair. His human instincts nudging him forward blanketing his fears. Walking in a steady pace, he ascended the stairs until he stood in front of the last barrier between them. He lifted the key from his pocket. His chest feeling lighter as the burden was removed.

_Click_. The door stood closed as Severus turned his back to it. The whimpers had stilled when the key had twisted in the lock. The storm was directly overhead now, drowning out his footsteps as he moved towards their bedroom.

He left the bedroom door open. They never closed this door when they were in it, sleeping naked and curled up together in their bed. Still fully clothed, Severus adjusted the pillows on the bed so he could sit comfortably while resting his back against the headboard. And then he waited.

He had only seen the wolf twice, both times under extremely different conditions. He pushed the vile images out of his mind as he waited, watching the doorway.

Between the sounds of thunder, Severus could hear tentative paws tapping on the wood in the hallway. They stopped close to the door just outside of his vision.

"The storm is getting worse," he said in an even tone.

The beast's head became visible in the doorway. Severus was surprised that the sight didn't make him cringe. It was the opposite. It was the eyes that calmed. He wanted to laugh aloud at his foolishness all of these years.

He patted the bed next to him. Slowly, the wolf walked into the room with his head bowed.

"It's alright, Remus," Severus said calmly.

_Crack_! The werewolf twitched. _Crack_! The werewolf jumped on the bed. The two locked eyes for a moment. And then Severus lifted his hand and soothingly caressed Remus' head.

"Summertime storms are harsh – aren't they?" Severus asked rhetorically.

The werewolf nodded.

"Lie down, then. Nothing we can do about it until it passes."

Remus curled up close to the comforting body and placed his head in Severus' lap. Wordlessly, Severus stroked his hand down the wolf's back, raking his long, bony fingers through the fur. Surprised by the softness of it, he explored more of the werewolf's pelt.

They laid in silence until the sounds of the storm grew distant. Severus' eyelids became heavy with sleep. He looked down to see werewolf eyes lovingly staring back at him.

"I think it best if you return to the room before you transform. I don't know if…" his voice trailed off as Remus nuzzled his palm with his nose. He smiled in gratitude for the understanding. "Good night, Remus," he whispered softly. "Sleep well."

* * *

"Good morning. Or should I say," Remus glanced at the clock, "good afternoon."

Severus mumbled gruffly, "It is not afternoon," and sat down as Remus placed a cup of coffee on the table in front of him.

"Close enough," Remus replied mischievously. "How are you today?"

Severus' eyes wandered over Remus, when satisfied that he looked healthy and unaffected by the transformation, he replied, "I have a hairball in my throat," then lifted the mug to his mouth.

Remus couldn't see the lips hiding behind the cup, but the slight crinkling around Severus' eyes was evident. "Severus, you made a joke!"

"Yes, well, you know what they say." He lowered the cup to reveal a slight smile on his face. "Every once in a blue moon."

**The End**

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